SmartEvals 2016 Partner of the Year for Technological Innovation

Adam Halstrom - University of Utah

Program Manager for the Center of Teaching and Learning

University of Utah has been able to take advantage of new technologies to streamline evaluations for students and instructors. Notably, while most partner institutions maintain just one or two email campaigns, the University of Utah uses seven! Primary Administrator Adam Halstrom deftly oversees it all, allowing individual schools and programs to efficiently invite their students’ participation in Utah’s Student Course Feedback program. Over the years, the University has also integrated SmartEvals with new and existing technologies, and Adam has been there for it all, fielding everything from user support to technical issues, and championing implementation of other technologies as well, including scannable QR codes for easy mobile access, and StudentView reporting that improved transparency by allowing student access to summary evaluation results.

In all the years that we have worked with Adam, he has distinguished himself among the most dynamic and savvy evaluation coordinators within the SmartEvals community.

SmartEvals 2016 Partner of the Year for Inspired Campus Engagement

Jill Triplett - Spelman College

Director of the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning

Over the course of the past year, our entire SmartEvals team has admired Ms. Triplett's exemplary leadership, as we have teamed with her to transition the Spelman campus from a paper evaluation process to SmartEvals Online Evaluations. Jill leveraged the ingenuity of her OIRAP team together with our best practices to yield highly effective engagement strategies. The team caught students’ attention with email reminders and eye-catching signage, and energized the campus with an evaluation launch party that included food, prizes, and survey kiosks. Thanks to their dedication and creativity, Jill and her team secured an impressive 85% response rate for Fall 2016—their very first term since taking the campus’ evaluations fully online.

In short, her energy and effectiveness have been inspirational for our entire SmartEvals team.

SmartEvals 2016 Trophy for Partner of the Year Award for Student Retention

Trenholm State Community College

Trenholm has played a key role in student success with the opening of the Student Success Center (SSC) in 2014, helping the program make a name for itself as a life-changing resource for students. All of this dedication and hard work has sure paid off for Trenholm students, with increased student success evident across several key measures. In just the first year since partnering with SmartEvals, Trenholm posted an outstanding 24% increase in its baseline 5-year retention rate, and an admirable 14% increase in its credit hour production rate. Thanks to effective early warning referral and intervention, the SSC observed an exceptional 41.5% increase in course retention rates over the course of the 2014-15 academic year.

SmartEvals is driven by a culture of ingenuity and hard work, and we are truly proud to share these values with everyone at Trenholm State who are passionate about making a difference in students' lives.

We want to congratulate all of our partners, and everyone that is a part of SmartEvals!